1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector with a front holder.
2. Description of the Related Art
A connector has a housing with cavities and locks that are cantilevered from inner walls of the cavities. Terminal fittings are inserted into cavities and are locked by the cantilevered locks. The terminal fittings and the cavities easily can be made narrower to achieve miniaturization. However, the locks must be sufficiently strong to lock the terminal fittings. Thus, the locks must be substantially as wide as the cavities. As a result, supports for supporting the opposite sides of the front ends of the terminal fittings cannot be provided in an area where the cavities and the locks face each other and an area before the locks. Alternatively, the width of any supports that can be formed is very small and the supports cannot be expected to support the terminal fittings securely.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,985 discloses a connector with a front holder mounted on the front of the housing. The holder has support walls for the front ends of the terminal fittings and front-stop walls for the cavities. Thus, the walls of the front holder can support the front ends of the terminal fittings.
The connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,985 is a hybrid connector with a group of narrow cavities a group of wide cavities. It is difficult to form supports for supporting the front ends of the terminal fittings in the narrow cavities. However, it is easier to form supports for supporting the front ends of the terminal fittings in the wider cavities. The front holder of the connector shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,985 is a single plate that corresponds to both the narrow cavities and the wide cavities.
The front holder of U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,985 becomes very large if the connector has a large number of cavities. However, a large front holder shrinks significantly during resin molding and creates dimensional variations, including displacement of the openings in the holder relative to the cavities.
Displacements of openings of the holder relative to the cavities cause portions of the terminal fittings that engage the front holder to be displaced from their proper positions. An electrical connection testing jig and a jig used to withdraw the terminals are inserted into the cavities through the openings of the front holder. However, misalignment of the openings in the holder may prevent proper insertion and maneuvering of the jigs.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to prevent displacements of portions of a front holder corresponding to cavities from the cavities.
The invention relates to a connector with a housing with cavities and locks that extend along the inner walls of the respective cavities. Terminal fittings are inserted into the corresponding cavities and are locked by the locks. The cavities include at least first and second cavity groups. The cavities in the first cavity group have supports for supporting front ends of the terminal fittings. However, cavities in the second cavity group have no supports. The housing is assembled with a front holder that corresponds only to the second cavity group. The front holder forms front ends of the cavities of the second cavity group and includes supports for supporting the front ends of the terminal fittings inserted into the cavities of the second cavity group.
The front holder corresponds to only the second cavity group and thus has a smaller area as compared to a front holder that corresponds to all cavities or more cavities than the second group. Thus, the degree of shrinkage of the front holder during resin molding is reduced and dimensional variations of the front holder are small. As a result, displacements between the cavities of the second cavity group and walls and openings of the front holder are suppressed.
The supports in the cavities of the first cavity group for supporting front ends of the terminal fittings take advantage of a difference between the width of the cavities and the width of the locks.
Supports are not formed in the cavities of the second cavity group due to a smaller difference between the width of the cavities and the width of the locks as compared to the corresponding difference in the cavities of the first cavity group.
The front holder corresponds only to the narrow cavity group, and hence has a smaller area as compared to a front holder that corresponds to all cavities. Thus, shrinkage of the front holder during resin molding is suppressed, and dimensional variations of the front holder are small. As a result, displacements between the smaller cavities and wall portions and openings of the front holder corresponding to the smaller cavities are suppressed.
A recess preferably is formed in the front surface of the housing for accommodating the front holder, and the front surface of the front holder is substantially flush with the front surface of the housing when the front holder is accommodated properly in the recess.
The front holder forms only part of the front surface of the housing. However, the front of the housing can be substantially flat because the front surfaces of the front holder and the housing are substantially flush when assembled. Thus, the shape of the front surface of the housing is simple.
The front holder preferably is mounted to the housing in a mounting direction arranged at an angle to an inserting direction of the terminal fittings into the respective cavities, and preferably a right angle.
The mounting of the front holder to the housing may be guided by engaging at least one guide groove with a corresponding guide rib. The guide grooves and the guide ribs preferably are dovetail shaped or undercut.
Locking means preferably locks the properly mounted front holder to the housing.
The invention also relates to a method of assembling a connector with first and second cavity groups. The method comprises assembling the housing with a front holder that corresponds only to the second cavity group to form front ends of the cavities of the second cavity group and providing supports for supporting the front ends of the terminal fittings in the cavities of the second cavity group. The method then comprises inserting terminal fittings into the corresponding cavities.
The front holder preferably is inserted into a recess in the front surface of the housing so that the front surface of the front holder is substantially flush with the front surface of the housing when the front holder is accommodated properly in the recess.
The front holder preferably is assembled to the housing in a mounting direction arranged at an angle, and preferably a right angle, to an inserting direction of the terminal fittings into the respective cavities.
The assembling step preferably comprises guiding the front holder to the housing by engaging at least one guide groove with a guide rib. The guide groove and the guide rib preferably are dovetailed or undercut.
The method may further comprise locking the front holder to the housing when properly mounted.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments.